In this series we’ll take a fresh look at resources and how they are used. We’ll go beyond natural resources like air and water to look at how efficiency in raw materials can boost the bottom line and help the environment. We’ll also examine the circular economy and design for reuse — with an eye toward honoring those resources we do have.

While changes at home can’t solve the many environmental crises we face today, they can sure help. Through this series, we’ll explore how initiatives like curbside compost pick-up, rebates on compost bins, and efficient appliances can help families reduce their impact without breaking the bank.

Despite decades -- centuries even -- of global efforts, slavery can still be found not just on the high seas, but around the world and throughout various supply chains. Through this series on forced labor, sponsored by C&A Foundation, we’ll explore many different types of bonded and forced labor and highlight industries where this practice is alive and well today.

In this series we examine how companies should respond to national controversy like police violence and the BLM movement to best support employees and how can companies work to improve equality by increasing diversity in their ranks directly.

Compost is often considered a panacea for the United States’ tremendous food waste problem. Indeed, composting is a much better option than putting spoiled food in a garbage can destined for a landfill.

As far as clean energy and green jobs go, President Obama’s 2013 budget includes a Christmas-in-July package of initiatives that are designed to help pull the U.S. out of recession while transitioning the economy to cleaner, safer, more reliable and less price-spikey forms of energy. Those last two items – price and reliability of supply – are especially important to the Department of Defense, which will see its rate of growth slow dramatically under the new budget.

In that light, the President’s clean energy package goes beyond a boost for domestic economic health. It will also play an important role in U.S. defense operations overseas, especially as actions in the Middle East draw down and attention pivots to the Asia-Pacific region.

The 2013 budget and new green jobs

Daniel Weiss over at Think Progress provides a good rundown of the impacts of the clean energy package. Along with environment-related public health and global warming initiatives, it includes tax credits and other forms of assistance for wind, solar and other renewable energy companies, and more funding for research and development for renewable energy, energy efficiency and advanced manufacturing technologies.

That all adds up to tens of thousands of new green jobs, many of which are in traditional union trades, such as electrician and mechanic, which will create new opportunities for reviving the blue collar middle class.

The Department of Defense also has been introducing solar power and other new technologies to its overseas bases and to ground operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, even in combat zones, and this is where it starts to get really interesting.

Until now, U.S. energy security strategy has focused on securing access to the global petroleum supply. However, just within the past couple of weeks there have been some strong hints that the U.S. is also turning its attention to securing renewable energy supplies in key strategic regions.

Namely, as the U.S. strategy shifts from the Middle East to the Asia-Pacific region, Australia is emerging as an important future source of renewable biofuel.

Australia, biofuels and U.S. national defense

Australia was a linchpin of America’s operations in the Asia-Pacific during World War II, and President Obama appears to be ensuring that the country is a solid partner as the U.S. once again ramps up its presence in the region.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy has partnered with the U.S. algae biofuel company OriginOil to develop algae-derived oil as an energy-boosting additive to drop-in biofuels. To that end, OriginOil has formed a joint venture with an Australian subsidiary to develop biorefineries in “strategic locations around the world,” initially focusing on the U.S. and Australia.

Et tu, Keystone?

President Obama’s Asia-Pacific strategy – including the Australian biofuels angle – is a response to China’s influence in the region, and keep that in mind as Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper works on a deal to export Canada’s tar sands oil to China. Republican legislators in Congress have certainly been trying to make it a lot easier for Canada to sell oil to China, by attempting to maneuver around President Obama’s refusal to grant a construction permit for the Keystone XL pipline. Not so certain is how much that kind of thoughtfulness would be appreciated by the U.S. Navy.

Tina is a career public information specialist and former Deputy Director of Public Affairs of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, and author of books and articles on recycling and other conservation themes. She writes frequently on sustainable tech issues for Triple Pundit and other websites, with a focus on military, government and corporate sustainability, and she is currently Deputy Director of Public Information for the County of Union, New Jersey.

3 responses

It is brilliant to get off fossil fuels immediately!!! We would have safer and calmer lives for all species! This is the only way to go since climate change caused by fossil fuel is making the planet uninhabitable too soon and all fossil fuel procurement now is just destroying the environment.

It is unclear to me how you assume that this is a valid argument. It is an uneducated guess, at best from you, that it is mandatory to detract from fossil fuels immediately. You are a moron, and need to research all the economical and environmental impacts of cutting ties from fossil fuels immediately.